Play Dates

This month we have had a couple Saturday "play dates" with friends of ours who have kids around Mary Pat's age. First, we had Brighton Jesse over to play and go swimming with his Mommy and Daddy (Suzanne and James). We had a great time at the pool and grilling at the house. Brighton is 17 months old and walking, so Mary Pat loved watch him walk through the baby pool!

Next, we had Claire George over to play with her Mommy and Daddy (Dave and Celia). Claire is only three weeks younger than Mary Pat so they had a wonderful time together! They loved crawling after each other at the house and splashing with each other in the pool!

Mary Pat is becoming much more active and loves playing with other kids so these play dates were perfect for her! Here are some more pictures from the visits.

Playing at the house with Brighton Jesse. Having fun in the pool with Daddy and Brighton.
Sharing toys with Claire George.
Mary Pat and Claire splashing around in the pool.
One of Mary Pat's MANY silly faces!
Crawling with Dada at the pool!

Big Girl Food

Mary Pat has really started to enjoy eating "big girl food" and is doing great with it! She loves turkey, cheese, bread, noodles, pineapple, carrots, peas, and green beans. At school she has also tried mac & cheese, meatballs, cheese quesadilla and has been gobbling these items up!

We have noticed that Mary Pat enjoys going out to dinner now that she can be "included" in the eating. She really likes to make a mess which isn't fun to clean up but it sure is fun to watch! Her hair is wet in these pictures because Mommy already had to wipe her down once during this particular meal.
Preparing to eat her green bean.

Shovelling it in with both hands!
YUMMY!

Here Comes Trouble!!

Well, Mary Pat has found the stairs.

We knew it was only a matter of time and last weekend she decided that she wanted to climb up the basement stairs. Luckily she still has little interest in the main stairs leading from the living room to upstairs. However, this new development meant that Daddy spent last Sunday installing baby gates.

As you can see from the pictures below, Mary Pat concentrated very hard as she climbed and was very proud of herself as Mommy waited at the top of the stairs clapping for her!

Beginning the ascent.

Pausing to look around.
Once she got to the landing she really took off!
Almost there!

11 Months Old!!

It's very hard to believe that our little girl is almost a year old! Everyone tells you that it will go fast and boy are they right! Mary Pat turned 11 months old on Monday and has a new trick to show us every day. She is LOVING table foods both at home and at school with green beans, carrots, and pasta among her favorites. She will also pull up on almost anything and is starting to "cruise" along the sofa a little bit. She loves to stand at her bookshelves and pull out all the books as well as to stand at the front door and look outside.

Last weekend, we went to Big Papa's house where Daddy played in his annual golf outing while Mommy and Mary Pat spent some time at the house with Aunt Charlene. Saturday night we stopped by Kelly & Kevin's house on the way home to visit with them as well as Kelly's sister Shannon, her husband Anthony, and their kids Cooper and Reilly. Mary Pat loved all of the attention she got from the big kids!

Here are a few pictures from the day including a few showing off some of Mary Pat's new tricks!

Looking outside

Having fun pulling all of Big Papa's cds from the shelves.

Our big girl!

An Afternoon at the Beach!

We spent a wonderful afternoon at Lido Beach while Nana & Victoria were visiting. Both Victoria & Mary Pat loved playing in the sand and Victoria even built a sandcastle with a "sand hole" (a moat). Although the ocean was still a little on the chilly side, Nana, Victoria and Chuck all enjoyed playing in the waves. Mary Pat was not a big fan of the cold water but we hope to get her used to it throughout the rest of the summer! She is like her Mommy and preferred watching others play in the ocean from the beach.

Enjoy the pictures below and at this link!

The two cousins playing in the sand.

Mary Pat trying to figure out what Victoria is doing with the shovel.Victoria couldn't wait to get to the ocean! Nana & Victoria heading into the (frigid) ocean for a swim. This is as far as Mommy and Mary Pat wanted to go in the ocean.
Family portrait on the beach!

Mary Pat loved the sand!

Central Park Zoo & Carousel

While Nana and Victoria were here we took a day trip into Manhattan. While in the city for the day we went to the Central Park Zoo, rode the Central Park Carousel, had delicious cupcakes from Crumbs bakery and met up with Chuck after work for a yummy dinner at Tony DiNapoli Restaurant in Times Square.

Both Mary Pat and Victoria had a great time at the zoo. Victoria loved watching the "seals" (sea lions) eat and getting to see all of the animals from the movie Madagascar. Mary Pat LOVED the penguins and got especially excited when they swam under the water. After the zoo we headed over to the carousel where Shannon took both girls for a ride. Neither one was too crazy about riding on a horse so we sat in the sleigh and had a wonderful time. Check out a few more pictures here. Mary Pat wasn't too sure about riding on a horse.......
Neither was Victoria, so we all ended up sitting in the sleigh on the carousel.

Fun at the Pool!

While Nana & Victoria were visiting, we made many visits to the Garden City Pool. Mary Pat has finally started to get used to the cold water and loves to splash around in the shallow end of the baby pool. Victoria loved both the baby pool and the big pool and is almost swimming completely on her own! Mommy (aka Aunt Shannon), Daddy (aka Uncle Chuck) and Nana all had fun playing in the water with the girls and Daddy even took a trip down the water slide for Victoria!

See below for a few pictures of the pool fun and follow this link for more!

Both girls looked precious in their matching bathing suits!

Taking a rest and snack break from all the swimming.
Victoria and Aunt Shannon having fun in the big pool!
Mary Pat and Daddy splashing around in the baby pool.

Victoria running around in the baby pool.

Mary Pat was happy to ditch the hat in the evening once the baby pool was in the shade!